


The Demon-mania of Witches | De la demonomanie des sorciers : Book 1

by Threbony



Series: The Demon-mania of Witches | De la demonomanie des sorciers [1]
Category: De la démonomanie des sorciers | On the Demon-Mania of Witches - Jean Bodin
Genre: 1587, From French to English, Gen, Magic, Old text, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Translation, Warnings May Change, Witch - Freeform, Witchcraft, Witches, also it makes translation harder, an english translation exists but costs money, apparently accents were optional in old french, how the hell am I supposed to know how to pronounce things without the accents?, i haven't studies french since spring 2019, informative, magick, so please forgive any errors i might make, the version in old french is free, this is an amateur's attempt at a translation of an old french work from 1587
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26401558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Threbony/pseuds/Threbony
Summary: De la demonomanie des sorciers, or the demon-mania of witches, is a book about sorcery/witchcraft and witchcraft persecutions first published in 1580. The English version costs money, but the old French version is free. So, I have decided to try and translate this book into English to the best of my amateurish ability.The first chapter of this work is the full table of contents I translated from this work, which is separated into four books.Please remember that this text is most definitely biased, having been written by a white, Christian, male jurist from the 16th century, who was most definitely anti-witch. I believe any text can be valuable in the pursuit of knowledge, no matter the beliefs and opinions portrayed in the text.I studied French for four years in high school and a semester in college. I am by no means fluent though, especially not in 500-year-old, non-standardized French. If anything catches your interest, comment it and I'll try to work on those chapters first.This is only a side project, so please don't expect fast updates. Links for the original text and an old French-English dictionary provided in the first chapter.
Series: The Demon-mania of Witches | De la demonomanie des sorciers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1919500
Kudos: 1





	1. Table of Contents

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [De la demonomanie des sorciers](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/682195) by Jean Bodin. 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The table of contents and some prior information about this series and the translator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first book of four in the series. Please check the table of contents to see what chapters are in each book. Thank you. Please remember this is an amateur translation (or a fan translation, if you will), so I apologize if there are errors.

Links to the original works:

In-cite reader: <https://archive.org/details/delademonomanied00bodi/page/n9/mode/2up>

pdf version: <https://www.pdfdrive.com/de-la-demonomanie-des-sorciers-e33497098.html>

A French-English dictionary published in 1650:

[https://books.google.com/books?id=8YxmAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false](https://books.google.com/books?id=8YxmAAAAcAAJ&lpg=PP526&dq=orneomantic&pg=PP526#v=onepage&q&f=false)

The old dictionary helps with the old french words that either don't have a common word anymore, or if the word has changed in spelling between then and now.

The use of accents on letters in the French language is very different now compared to in 1580. In the old texts, there are very few accents used. My best guesses for why this is are: 1) accents were optional, 2) hard-set rules for which words have which accents were not in place yet/were not common knowledge, 3) It would be difficult to make sure every accent was in place when using a late-16th century printing press. I am not an expert on this, so do not take my word for fact.

As I read and translate more, the chapter titles may change to better reflect the content of each chapter. This is just a side project of mine that I am doing only out of sheer curiosity, so updates will be random. The book is about 450 pages long, so I cannot guarantee when this translation will be finished. 

I'm separating the four books over a series, so if you only want to read certain chapter, please go to that book in the series. 

There will be footnotes in the chapters that will provide further explanation for certain parts. Simply click on the number in brackets to be directed to the corresponding footnote.

The Demon-mania of Witches*

Total Completion Rate: 7.5/444 Pages **(1.7%)**

Table of Contents

Book One

  1. The definition of a witch **(0%)**
  2. The association of Spirits with people **(0%)**
  3. The difference between good and bad Spirits **(20.8%)**
  4. On the Prophecy and other divine means for knowing occult things **(0%)**
  5. On natural means and humans, for knowing occult things **(0%)**
  6. On illicit means to achieve something we claim **(0%)**
  7. On Teratomancy(divination by the observation of monstrous or malformed human or animal births), haruspicy (divination by use of animal entrails), Ornithomancy (divination by the moving of birds), hieromancy (divination by interpreting sacred objects), and other forms of divination **(0%)**



Book 2 

  1. On Magick** in general **(0%)**
  2. On tacit invocations of evil spirits **(0%)**
  3. On express invocations of evil spirits **(0%)**
  4. On those who renounce God by express comment, and if they are transported in body by demons(could possibly be referring to demonic possession) **(0%)**
  5. On the ecstasis and delight of witches, and the ordinary dating they have with demons **(62.5%)**
  6. On Lycanthropy and if the Spirits can make people beautiful. **(0%)**
  7. If witches copulate with demons **(0%)**
  8. If witches can send diseases, sterility, hail, and tempests, and if they can kill people and beasts. **(0%)**



Book 3 

  1. Lawful means of obviating charms and witchcraft **(0%)**
  2. If witches can assure the health of afflicted people, and if they can give cures to diseases **(0%)**
  3. If witches can have, by their profession, the favor of the great, beauty, pleasures, honor, riches, and knowledge, and if they can give fertility **(0%)**
  4. If witches can harm more than others **(0%)**
  5. On the illicit means for preventing charms and malefices (magick meant to harm others), and for curing diseases **(0%)**
  6. On those who are besieging and forcing using the evil spirits, and the means of the hunt **(0%)**



Book 4 

  1. On the inquisition of witches **(0%)**
  2. On the plans required to prove the crime of witchcraft **(0%)**
  3. The voluntary and forced confessions made by witches **(0%)**
  4. Presumptions against witches **(0%)**
  5. Penalties that witches deserve **(0%)**
  6. Refutation of the opinions of Jean Wier.*** **(0%)**



*I’m using witches as an all-inclusive term for anyone who practices magick. Original title : De la demonomania des sorciers

**Magick is spelled with a k in order to differentiate it from sleight of hand magic


	2. I   The definition of a witch

Placeholder chapter. Translation in progress.


	3. II  The association of Spirits with people

Placeholder chapter. Translation in Progress.


	4. III   The difference between good and bad Spirits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As I understand it so far: By good spirits, he's referring to the christian God and Holy Spirit and angels, etc. By bad spirits, he means literally any other Gods or entities or Deities, etc. If they're not part of the christian faith, he believes it is Satan.

Chapter III's Completion Rate: 2.5/12 pages completed.

Book I, Chapter III: The Difference Between Good and Bad Spirits.

We have said that the witch is someone who does their best to achieve things by diabolic means, then we have talked about the association of spirits with people: it is necessary to know the difference between some and others, to know who is a child of God and who is a witch.[1] What is much needed, to raise the veil of piety, and of religion, and the mask of light, that the devil takes quite often, to abuse people. The ancient Greeks and Latins say that there were good and bad spirits, and called some Eudaimonas, the others Kakodaimonas, and Ala’oras/Klao’oras, and Palamnaisínm’a; the Latins: Lemures.[2] What ignorant people cannot and atheists will not believe, and the witches, who look good to raise suspicion about them, apparently don’t care, but in fact they get along too well. We have plenty of examples that the Devil endeavors to imitate the works of God, like when we read about the Pharaoh’s witches[3]. We also read that the evil spirits have deceived in the past, as they still do in the present in two ways: one openly, with express pactions, where there was almost only the heaviest, and the women who were private.[4] The other kind was to deceive people of faith, turn them towards idolatry under a veil of religion, so that Satan is worshiped and to distract men from worshiping a true God, only wanting to make oracles, and responses by those who were virgins, who drowned in prayers, and orations which they made to Apollo and other similar Gods: that which the Devil has well maintained, that the West Frisian Islands, he found himself before the Spaniards as Lords, that the priests they had made great elites, prayers, and processions, they carry their Idols on banners, and they rub shoulders with the honor of their idols: then after they made evil spirits, and said wonders, like we read the stories of the West Frisian Islands, and generally the priests did not marry, except those who listen to sins and enjoin penance, and dare not receive confession, under penalty of being chastised, as they often do, even when one wants to harvest or make war, or to speak to their God, that is to say, to the Devil.

Paragraph summary: It is important to know the difference between good and evil spirits. The Devil imitates God. Evil spirits deceive people in two ways: 1) open, quick transactions (probably with a heavy price) with women in private, and 2) to deceive people of faith and steer them away from the Abrahamic God. An example of this second way is given, detailing about Spaniards worshipping other Gods, which in turn makes evil spirits. The Spanish priests who married were those who worshipped the Devil. I believe this is what the above paragraph is trying to convey.

And to be even more delightful, they sermonize their eyes, the others bend down and sacrifice men and all sorts of animals to their idols, and there were several girls’ monasteries carefully guarded by chaste men with the nose and the lures cut. Those who dared to soil their honor would face the death penalty, as it was done in Rome to the Vestals and those who wanted to be priests(as in the “devil worshiping” priests mentioned in the previous paragraph), who would then retire to the forest with the priests dressed in white. They would spend four or five years there and take note of their experience. And the greatest God that they adored was the sun which they called “Guaca,” and “Paniaca,” son of the sun and moon. This story, as it was written here, was recited by the King of Spain at the suggestion of the West Frisian Islands.

It is well known that the Amorrheans and other peoples who God exterminated practiced in such kinds of witchcraft, sacrificing men to the Devils they spoke to and worshiped. They mainly worshiped the Sun, who they called, by reason of excellency, Ba’al, which means Lord in Hebrew. From this is where the name Ba’alzebuf came, which means Master Fly,[5] because there is not a fly in his temple. This is nothing strange or new, as they say that in the Palace of Venice, there is not a single fly, and in the palace of Toledo there is only one. Because we read that the Cyrenaiques,[6] after having sacrificed to the God Acaron, God of the flies, and the Greeks sacrificed to Jupiter,[7] nicknamed Myiodes, that is to say, Mouchard,[8] all of the flies swarmed and formed into a cloud, like we read in Pausanias _in Arcadicisi_ , and in Pline in book XXIX, chapter VI[(I think he’s trying to sound smart by referencing other books)]. We also see the witches chasing all the snakes of a country with but a few words. It is not good if their master, Satan, drives away all the flies.[9]

Summary: There’s a girls’ monastery with guards who will face the death penalty if they don’t do their job and nothing but their job(aka don’t touch the girls). The death penalty is given to those who soil their honor. According to Jean, if you worship anything besides the Christian God or are a witch, you’ve soiled your honor. He gives an example of people who would face said death penalty. Jean believes that any worshiped being besides the Christian God is the Devil/Satan. He also honestly believes that people of biblical times worshiped the sun they named ‘Master fly.’ Yes they worshiped the sun god, but the name lord of the flies was a pun made to disgrace their god. Jean thinks the Greeks worshiped Jupiter, who would summon a cloud of flies for them if he was given a human sacrifice. Apparently, witches are like St. Patrick and can drive out all of the snakes of a country. Jean is confused that the witches are chasing out a symbol of Satan, their ‘master.’

[1] Literal translation for this line: to know the children of God from witches.

[2] The names mentioned before ‘The Latins’ were all written in Greek, so this translation may not be accurate, especially since it was difficult to make out the Greek letters. In order, the names in the original Greek and their pronunciations are as follows: ἐυδαίµονας (yoo-day-moh-ness) , χαχοδαίµονας (kah-koh-day-mohn-ahs), άλάϛοϱας / χλάϛορας (al-uh-or-us/klao-or-ahs . The first letter of these is different across two versions of the text), παλαµναίᾰς (puh-lum-nay-seenm-ah). I am uncertain if in the last of the names the letter ᾰ is correct. The original text makes it difficult to make out, but it is similar to zodiac symbol for Taurus. In ancient Roman belief, Lemures were the restless spirits of the dead.

[3] Probably referring to readings in the Bible.

[4] This is the literal translation that I’m not to sure how to interpret. The heaviest could be referring to the price of the pactions/pacts.

[5] Originally, the name was Ba’al Zebul, which meant Lord of the Manor or Lord of the Heavenly Dwelling. The name shifted to Ba’al Zebub as a pun used in the Hebrew language, meaning Lord of the flies or Lord of the dung heap. This pun name was used in a derogatory manner to offend those who worshiped Ba’al Zebul. Over time, this name shifted into the name we have today, Beelzebub.

[6] A sensual hedonist Greek school of philosophy

[7] It seems Jean was too busy bashing peoples’ religions to get their gods right. Jupiter was the name of the Roman god. Zeus was the equivalent name for the Greeks.

[8] In French, this word translates to snitch. However, I think it’s more akin to saying Noble Monsier Fly, but in a mocking manner, because the French word for fly is mouche.

[9] I think this he is trying to say, “It’s not nice that the witches are getting rid of all the snakes(because snakes are symbolic of satan). How would they like it if their God chased out all of the flies that you sacrificed people to get?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there is no paragraphing throughout the entire original text. Therefore, it's up to me to split it up into paragraphs. Interesting fact about old French: many of the words that make the soft 's' sound (as in soft or suit), instead of just using an s, they use an 'sç.' The accent on the 'c' is called a circumflex (as I learned it) and it is used in French to signify that the 'c' makes the soft 's' sound rather than a hard 'k' sound. My best guess for why they use the 's' and 'ç' together is to show that it is the soft 's' sound, and not more of a 'z' sound. I have not done my research on this though, so do not take it as fact.


	5. IV 	On the Prophecy and other divine means for knowing occult things

Placeholder chapter. Translation in progress.


	6. V 	On natural means and humans, for knowing occult things

Placeholder chapter, translation in progress


	7. VI 	On illicit means to achieve something we claim

Placeholder chapter. Translation in progress.


	8. VII 	On Teratomancy, haruspicy, Ornithomancy, hieromancy, and other forms of divination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here are the specifics to the types of divination listed in the chapter title: On Teratomancy(divination by the observation of monstrous or malformed human or animal births), haruspicy (divination by use of animal entrails), Ornithomancy (divination by the moving of birds), hieromancy (divination by interpreting sacred objects), and other forms of divination.

Placeholder chapter. Translation in Progress.


End file.
